A month or so ago we bought a pot of a flowering plant (Pericallis Senetti Daisy). The flowers were in my favourite colour and so was the plastic pot it came in – purple.
We had gone to the nursery to buy a plant for my neighbour. It was her birthday and she loves plants and has an assortment of indoor plants in her apartment.
We had decided that from now on, if possible, instead of buying any material gifts, we would try and gift our friends and neighbours – a bouquet of fresh flowers or a plant.
We ended up buying a bonsai plant for our neighbour and it came in a gorgeous rectangular blue coloured ceramic pot, along with a ceramic tray.
For ourselves, we bought a plant that we could keep outside in the balcony as we had a lot of indoor plants but very few outdoor ones.
About three weeks ago, both the husband and I noticed that a bee started making a regular appearance in our balcony. It usually comes twice a day – in the morning and then in the time frame between 3 to 4 pm. It goes from one flower to another, having its fill. It is fascinating to watch it arrive on time and hop from one flower to another.
We have been at this apartment for about two years or so now. The bee only started making an appearance after we got home the purple flowers plant aka the deep blue/purple coloured Pericallis Senetti Daisy.
It brought a sense of wonder and delight in me. I was amazed that how quickly this bee (I am assuming that is the same one who comes every day) found that this particular balcony had a flowering plant of interest for him. There are so many apartments and apartment blocks in the area we live. How did it know? I may have to research on that bit – that is, how does a bee come to know that a flower of interest to him is in the vicinity? Or that a balcony that once had no flowering plants now has one or two that it would like to feed on? How does it find out?
I love watching him and realize how little it takes for us to make a space ‘bee-friendly.’ It took just one flowering plant for us to have a bee regularly visit our balcony.
Today is World Bee Day (Thursday 20, 2021) and I am making a note to find out more about bees and their world. I know there are a number of good books and reading material out there which have documented the fascinating and complex lives of bees and I should find myself some really good resources to get reading and exploring…
I see here in Dublin, Ireland and this was also the case back in the UK – meadows in public gardens and spaces with little houses for bees, as well as a sign that said something (pictorially) on the lines of ‘do not pluck the wildflowers or spray pesticides. This is a bee-friendly area.’ Various sorts of wildflowers were grown in these spaces to attract the bees and provide them with food.
I thought I would also provide a link from The Irish Times on how to make your garden bee-friendly.
I am certain there would be resources (more suited to the Indian garden with locally available indigenous plants and shrubs) to make our gardens a haven for bees back home in India.
I found one link for Indian gardens but happy to be updated with resources from those who know better.
I will also update this blog if I can with a better photograph of the bee that visits our balcony – I know the one I have posted is hazy so I will try and take a good one this week or so. If not, you can just imagine this beautiful, buzzing creature full of energy – hopping from one purple flower to another!
The Banyan tree and other stories 
So beautifully written. I felt I was in your balcony, looking at the purple flowers and the bees.
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